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Exuberant Animal is - as one might expect - not exactly a fun read, for all its insight.

It does bring things into perspective: apes like to swing but are never seen doing pull-ups. This is good to know!

Swung around the olí sledgehammer this morning.

Since joining Crossfit, I have only gained weight, inches, and fat. Perhaps for this reason alone, I find the whole ordeal stressful. And then I feel guilty about feeling stressed instead of just love/hating it like everyone else. Perhaps for my own health and well being, I should quit and take up something else.

I now belong to 3 gym-like things (regular gym, Crossfit, and climbing gym) and am fatter than ever. This causes me a great deal of angst and impedes my ability to have fun. Truthfully I donít find the gym or Crossfit to be fun, and the jury is still out on climbing.

As for DIY shredders, I would really like to assemble something like this:

http://www.instructables.com/id/Hand-Cranked-Document-Shredder/

But you do actually need the guts of an old shredder, which I donít have. Amazon sells tiny colorful hand cranked shredders, but whereís the fun in that?

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August 13

Day 12:

Ugh, day from hell. Started out ok with some sledgehammer-fu. (My ex-roommate and I have named the sledgehammer Sir Harold Sledgey.)

I wanted to go climbing, but had to work late. I swung on a swing in a Central Park playground, but I was too nervous to enjoy it because I noticed sign at the entrance proclaiming that adults without children are prohibited from entering the playground.

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I love swinging! It always makes me happy when a swing is hung high enough for me to pump my legs without hitting the ground with my feet... so sad that it&#39;s a no-adults playground, but there are creepy people out there and I guess it makes sense...

Eating lots but still hungry? Eat more fat. Mid-day sluggishness? Eat more fat. Feeling depressed or irritable? Eat more fat. People think you've developed an eating disorder? Eat more fat... in front of them.

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More swinging - that is to say me, swinging Sir Harold Sledgey, my trusty sledgehammer. OK, I admit it, I sing "Sixteen Tons" in my head while making shoveling motions.

I&#39;ve been trying to meditate for a half hour daily (well, on weekdays). So far I haven&#39;t managed to empty my mind or fill it with wonderful stuff. What meditation appears to do so far is to provide a negative space onto which my thoughts are projected in rather stark relief. I suppose that&#39;s useful too.

And then, at a loss, I played Scrabble over the internet.

In two days, my hand cranked paper shredder will arrive. Yes, I am actually looking forward to some shredding play. It seems like something pioneers would do, you know? I mean, if pioneers ever worried about identity theft.

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August 17-18

Days 16-17 (wait...calendar math off...)

Monday - Some fun with Sir Harold Sledgey. Pretended I was a lumberjack.

Tuesday - Indoor climbing. I made it up the easiest bouldering path! Fun fact: several types of activity, including climbing, martial arts, and barbell lifting, become more difficult the longer your nails grow. Girly painted nails (such as mine, currently) are definitely a handicap.

I&#39;m not sure if I actually enjoy climbing. But I&#39;m not sure that I don&#39;t either.

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August 19

Day 18

Wednesday -

I learned something new about sink traps and u-bends: namely, that they exist. Also that if they dry out, they can be the source of unpleasant odors from the pipes below. This is oddly gratifying to know. I really enjoyed learning it.

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Sprints in the park, running on the grass this time. It felt right. Tried to keep the concept of fartlek in my head by targeting distant trees and then rushing them.

August 20

Day 19

Thursday -

Took off my shoes and sunned my feet in Grand Army Plaza during lunch hour. Totally pleasurable.

After work, I walked through Central Park from Central Park South and Fifth Ave. to 81st St. and Central Park West. I walked through the Mall/Promenade, which is (currently) my favorite place in the park. It&#39;s a shaded pathway through a preserve of American elms. On each side of the path are statues of famous authors, but my first love is the elms. They are so graceful and their give the impression of undulating underwater things. Anemones.

When I passed Bethesda Fountain, I actually saw Thoth packing up his Thoth gear!

Then I wended my way past Belvedere Castle and continued to my bus stop to await the long commute home.

I really do love Central Park. But so often during the year, I am carrying too much gym gear to comfortably walk any kind of distance through it. How un-primal! Also, the commute back to the Bronx means any stroll in Central Park definitely ends on a low note, as commuting is the bane of my existence.

The other problem is the weather and/or intermittent fasting. The sad truth os that intermittent fasting causes me to feel extremely cold for at least half the year and any kind of chill is almost unbearable and certainly not fun. IF may be very primal, but it keeps me indoors during the colder months, which is NOT primal. Conundrum! For now, I&#39;m happy it&#39;s 90 degrees and August.

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August 21

Day 20

Friday -

Got my vitamin D fix before the rain and witnessed a group of breakdancers, who - by the by - are in terrific shape. I wonder how one becomes a breakdancer. What&#39;s the sequence of events that leads on to that point? Is there some sort of apprenticeship program, or what?